Short Hop Over the Border

Today John Barn, my brother and I spent the morning birding at a few of the local spots as Mother's Day commitments meant that we couldn't travel too far. While the temperature had dropped by quite a margin in comparison with the past week there was still quite a bit of sunshine to enjoy.

View from the bridge at Eyebrook.

Our first port of call was a spot in Corby where we were treated to views of a female Peregrine eating a breakfast of pigeon. March really has been a good month for local Peregrines, hopefully a few will stay around to breed.

Drake Teal and displaying Great Crested Grebe.

From here we made our way to Eyebrook reservoir where we were greeted on arrival by singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap. On the water there were very few birds, just a few dabbling ducks, some grebes and a few Coots. Fairly large numbers of Common Gulls were passing through but there was little sign of any other migration. Probable highlight here were two Ospreys that made several appearances over the res. At one point a bird was seen off by a Red Kite which if nothing else served to demonstrate the success of local conservation measures. As well as these two there were also a few Buzzards but there was not much else of note on site apart from a t least one Tree Sparrow.

Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow.

With a little time to spare we decided to pop over to Wakerley Wood for a look to see if any Crossbills were about. Luck was with us as John picked out a male in a tree next to the carpark. While looking for it I found his mate who looked very much as if she was collecting nest material. If this was the case then it's a rare occurrence as this species is a rare breeder in the county. After a couple of minutes the pair flew off over the path leaving three happy birders in their wake. A few Chiffchaffs were singing and we also heard both a Siskin and a Redpoll. There was not a great deal of other wildlife about though we did see a Peacock flying along one of the tracks.

The male Crossbill from Wakerley.

Peacocks.

With the current mild and settled spell of weather forecast to be on the way out over the weekend I had to get out after work to make the most of it. As I wanted to spend more time watching rather than walking I decided to spend some time at the old patch near Corby sewage works.

Peacocks.

While I couldn't find any new species I did enjoy watching the more established species going about their lives. Peacocks featured prominently with perhaps as many as fifteen being present. When they weren't basking in the warm sunshine or nectaring on sallow blossoms they spent their time pursuing each other at great speed. On several occasions they interacted with both Small Tortoiseshells and Commas, perhaps surprisingly the larger species did not always get the better of these encounters.

Small Tortoiseshell.

On the subject of those smaller species there were at least two each of Small Tortoiseshells and Commas. While the torts spent most of their time basking the Commas were really rather belligerent. Having found a favourable sun bathing spot they would defend it from all comers flying up to harass any other butterfly that foolishly entered their chosen territory.

Comma.

There was not a huge amount of other wildlife on view today with the usual Chiffchaffs being joined by a Grey Wagtail and plenty of bee-flies included a mating pair.

Bee-flies.

Just Checking

News on several FB pages about the emergence of some early damselflies was the cue for me to take a stroll down to Weldon to see if any were out around here. I couldn't find any but it is about three weeks before I would normally see my first so I wasn't too surprised.

Weldon.

Butterflies were showing in small numbers with the first being a male Brimstone near the steelworks. Close to the A43 pond I found two Small Tortoiseshells which looked as if they were about to pair up and there were also at least three Peacocks in the same area. Plenty of Seven-spotted Ladybirds were active while good numbers of bees, hoverflies and also bee-flies were noted.

Small Tortoiseshells and a Peacock.

Four pairs of Tufted Ducks were still on the A43 pond and there are quite a few Chiffchaffs singing around the village. The only other thing of note were three rabbits feeding in the Woodland Park, they seem to be quite scarce at the moment so I'm always glad to see them.

Seven-spotted Ladybird and Goldfinch.

A brief look at the old patch on the way home produced a sighting of a fox. At first I thought it was someone's mutt but I quickly realised my mistake though sadly as I was bringing my camera up to take a shot the fox caught wind of me and legged it, a rubbish record shot is all I managed. Ah well you can't always rely on nature to hang around for a piccy but just seeing it is often good enough for me.

Rabbit and disappearing Fox.

Birds and the Bees

Yet another glorious morning and I chose to spend it over at Barnwell CP and along the Nene at Oundle. Despite an early start I didn't manage to find either an Otter or a Kingfisher but despite this minor setback it was still a decent walk.

Nuthatch and Song Thrush.

A Cetti's Warbler was singing at several different parts of the park and was my first here for some time. It was joined by at least three Chiffchaffs though these were the only migrants on offer today. Two pairs of Mandarin were present and there was also a pair of Egyptian Geese. Lots of passerine activity from Lowlands Hide where the Nuthatches in particular showed well.

Egyptian Goose and Mandarins.

Sallow flowers along the river were attracting many different bees ranging from bumbles to solitary types. I wish that I knew more about them but at the moment I'm hopeless. Walking along to the flooded area near the A605 produced numbers of both Wigeon and Teal still, it won't be too long I'd imagine before they start heading northwards again. The Lapwings were joined by at least three Redshanks, I had three in view and could hear at least another. March seems to be a good month to find them here but I couldn't add any other wader species today.

Magpie, Dunnock and Blackbird.

Despite the sunshine there was only one butterfly and that was a Peacock sunning itself on the wall of a house in Oundle town centre.

A selection of bees.

New Arrivals

A bit of a trek today taking in Weldon, Deenethorpe, Deene and Priors Hall where a decent selection of wildlife was seen. While nothing rare was seen there was at least several new species for the year.

Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Corby Old Village had a singing Chiffchaff which turned out to be the first of eighteen seen or heard today. Weldon for its part had a singing male Blackcap, my first this year and there was another a little later on at Priors Hall. Although I managed a couple of good photos today my shot of this particular chap was distinctly duff. Leaving Weldon I thought that I'd caught up with my first female Brimstone of 2019 but was surprised to find that it was in fact a Large White. This is by far my earliest with my first sightings in both 2017 and 2018 being in May!

Large White and Raven.

Walking along Bears Lane produced sightings of two Ravens feeding on a field edge, this was probably the pair from Harry's Park Wood. Things went a little quiet for a bit until I got to the edge of Deenethorpe airfield where both a Comma and a male Brimstone were present between the field and Weldon Park Wood. On the airfield itself a Small Tortoiseshell was doing its best to shelter from a fairly strong breeze.

Butterfly and moth selection.

Deene Lake inflow was awash so there was no sign of any waders but there were at least plenty of Teal still about. The main lake had three pairs of Shelduck amongst the commoner fare and there was another male Brimstone nearby. Another little lull followed until I got to Priors Hall where more butterfly sightings made for an interesting time. A further six male Brimstones were seen but these were outnumbered by ten Peacocks. In addition to these three more Commas and another Small Tortoiseshell were found and I also saw an Orange Underwing moth which may well have been my first. Other interesting wildlife on view here included a Smooth Newt. Birds were not ignored either with a Woodcock being flushed and a Tawny Owl hooting but the best bird was a Little Ringed Plover in the quarry area. The lake here held an OK selection of wildfowl and these included two Pochards.

Smooth Newt and Little Ringed Plover.

Not much else to report except to say that another Peacock was seen at Weldon.

Yellowhammer.

Spring Returns.

Mild and sunny conditions after work were enough to persuade me to take a stroll over to my old patch next to the town's sewage treatment works. Mercifully the walk did not stink and I was able to catch up with some half decent wildlife.

Violets and Bee Fly.

At least two Chiffchaffs were singing which suggests that they arrived in numbers over the weekend taking into account the four seen on Monday too. Only one other bird of note was found and that was a Kingfisher which as well as flying up and down the stream called in at the ponds. Plenty of violets were in flower, it's always nice to see these delicate little flowers.

Peacocks.

For the first time since February I managed to catch up with some butterflies with Peacocks in particular putting in a strong showing. At least eight of this attractive species were on view with many looking to be in fine condition. While a Small Tortoisehell proved to be camera shy two Commas were not and both posed nicely. Spring is the time to catch up with Bee Flies and there were quite a few on the wing today.

One and three quarter Commas.

A later on in the proceedings I managed to get a photograph of the moon which is apparently called a super worm moon. ( I believe that super refers to the moon rather than the worm!)

A super worm moon (apparently).